It was at night when Min Hui came to Jiangzhou. The business of Lanjin Pavilion was in full swing, and the proprietress was busy counting money. She made her wait for an hour before she finally showed up: "The police station called me, what should I say? As I said, the 19th has been with us for over a year—"

"Number 19?" Min Hui didn't understand.

"That's Li Chunmiao." The proprietress typed on the computer without raising her head. "Conscientious work, excellent technology, and good service attitude—that's all. I don't understand the rest."

"I want to go to her dormitory and I heard that she still has some things there."

"The bed has been given to others. The sheets, quilts, toiletries, etc. have been thrown away. There is only one box left. If you want, I will bring it to you tomorrow on the 22nd."

"Who is number 22?"

The proprietress pondered for a moment, her brain struggling to switch between the numbers and names: "...Sister Zhao Ying, they are the upper and lower bunks."

"Can I meet Zhao Yingmei?"

"She's at work, and she ends work at two o'clock in the middle of the night." The proprietress raised her head and glanced at her, "Why don't you press your foot here, take a rest, and chat with her by the way."

Really know how to do business and don't miss every opportunity. Min Hui nodded: "Alright."

She flipped through the price list: "Then let's do a hot stone oil and foot massage, 650 per hour, and I'll give you the group purchase price, 400. You can start in ten minutes."

"Can it be cheaper?" In Bencheng, where Min Hui lives, there are more than 30,000 foot bath shops. The price of a bell is usually around two or three hundred. This Lanjin Pavilion doesn't count for its appearance, location, or decoration. Senior, Jiangzhou is not yet Bincheng University, she did not expect the fees to be so expensive, she suspected that it was deliberately slaughtering people.

"We use genuine essential oils, are they very expensive? Just two hundred yuan a bottle of essential oil, depending on your head, one bottle may not be enough." The proprietress raised her eyebrows, "I heard that she saved you. A life?"

"right."

"The 40% discount is for her sake," the proprietress sneered, "You still haggle? Where's your conscience? Does it hurt?"

pain. Min Hui obediently pays.

Zhao Yingmei is a beautiful girl with big eyes and a small face, with light makeup and long black hair. The first impression she gives is that of a pure and quiet student girl.

The student girl wore a tight-fitting, low-cut, short-sleeved cheongsam, and stepped on five-centimeter high-heeled shoes. The scent of perfume was strong, and her hands were so strong that Min Hui cried out in pain.

"Sister does copywriting, right? The back is so tight that you have to rub hard to open the meridians." Yingmei is skilled, her fingers as hard as iron, rubbing, pinching, and pushing on Min Hui's back Press again.

"Actually, I'm not here for a massage," Min Hui said quickly, "I'm here for—"

"Li Chunmiao, right? The lady boss told me." Yingmei slowly dripped the essential oil into her palm and wiped it with her fingers interlocking. "You can come to me at ten o'clock tomorrow morning to get the box."

When she pushed for the second time, she finally relaxed a lot, and Min Hui was so comfortable that she almost fell asleep: "You live with Chun Miao, so you must be very familiar?"

"It's true that we are together every day. We eat and sleep together, but we don't know each other very well. She cares about others, but doesn't like to talk about herself very much. You know, every family has hard-to-read scriptures. Her hometown is in Chihe City, Guangxi. , there is an autonomous county for ethnic minorities down there. What ethnic group is there? I forgot. In short, in the mountains, it is very poor. She came out at the age of sixteen and never went back. nobody."

"What about Jiangzhou? Are there any close relatives, colleagues, girlfriends, boyfriends, etc.?"

"No." Yingmei shook her head decisively, "It has been less than two years since Rankin Court opened, and I am the one who knows her the most, and I don't have much time to communicate. Our wages here are on a piece-rate basis, the more bells you earn, the more you earn. , Everyone is busy making money. They work thirteen hours a day, I don’t know what is sunrise, what is breakfast, and I can’t see the sun. I get off work at two in the middle of the night, and I fall asleep when I get to the dormitory. Going to work. There are no holidays, the more holidays, the busier you are…”

When it came to the suffering of working girls, Yingmei couldn't stop. Min Hui listened and looked at the private room, which was less than ten square meters. The air was more stuffy because of the aromatherapy. There was not even a window in the room. The feet are all pale skin... She imagined Chunmiao when she was working, endless customers, endless massage, day after day, year after year, in this dorm room without sunlight, like earthworms survive.

"Did she tell you her plans for the future? Since there is no one in her hometown, she must have saved a lot of money over the years, right?"

As soon as the words came out, Min Hui felt a little remorse. She wondered why she was involved in money, or would it make people misunderstood, thinking that she came all the way to covet the savings of a working girl?

Zhao Yingmei didn't care about it at all: "There must be some money, and she also saves a lot. Before her mother died, she borrowed a lot of money for medical treatment. I fell in love with her, her surname is Feng, she lives in Guangzhou, and I asked Chunmiao if she would like to go with him. The man's condition is very good, and he is generous, but he is a little older and has a wife and children at home. He said he wanted a son, You can buy a house for her alone, or open a small shop. Chunmiao doesn't do anything, you say stupid? The boss screwed her up and came to her every night. It’s five minutes, and if I drink too much, I still move my hands and feet. Chunmiao scolded him once, but the lady boss found out, deducted her one month’s salary, and almost told her to get out of the house... I was in the dormitory. Persuade her, Li Chunmiao, ah Li Chunmiao, isn't it because you are working so hard to find a good home? What's wrong with living outside? If you have a son, your status will be stable. Can we still be the wife of the main house from the beginning? Take your time, right? As long as you serve men well, you will have what you want. This is life, not a TV show! Sister, do you think this is the truth?"

Min Hui listened silently, feeling the urge to slap Yingmei's head hard, but she restrained it. Everyone has their own point of view when looking at issues. There are many people who see things upside down. She is not surprised and can't control it. So he continued to ask: "Then Chunmiao left Lanjin Pavilion this time, did she resign?"

"I haven't heard of it. She hasn't received her salary for this month. She has worked here for more than ten months without taking a day off. This time, she said that she has to go back to her hometown for something. After all, she is an excellent employee, and the boss immediately approved it. ."

"Her home is in Hechi, so how could she go to Mushui River?" Min Hui drew a map in her mind: Chunmiao was a bus at Yukong Station, Yukong and Hechi were in the north and the other was in the south, with Jiangzhou in the middle. If you go back to your hometown, how should you go south and go north, and go to such a remote place?

"Who knows why. Don't look at this Chunmiao giggling and laughing on weekdays. In fact, it is mysterious and has a big idea. You can see from the matter of Boss Feng. It's not surprising to me that few of them are out of town. What about relatives who are working? Maybe the original plan was to go back to their hometown. If the person they are looking for has gone out to work, they will move to another place.”

Makes sense. Min Hui asked again, "Have you heard her mention anyone? Maybe you don't know her, but you are very close to her? For example, she has a younger brother who was lost when she was a child? And how did her parents die? "

Chunmiao is twenty-five years old this year, and her parents should be in their fifties. Even if her hometown is poor and living conditions are harsh, it is rare for both of them to die at this age.

"Does she have a younger brother?" Yingmei shook her head, "I didn't hear her mention it. It was said that her parents died. Her father passed away when she was a child. Her mother died when she was fourteen years old. She has always been ill. The two years were spent in bed. After her mother died, she had nowhere to go. She lived at her cousin's house for a period of time. Her aunt thought she was a drag, beat her at every turn, and didn't give her food. She couldn't stand it and ran out to work. ."

"Didn't go to school?"

"Primary culture."

"What about hobbies?"

"I wake up early every day, and I can't have any hobbies. In our dormitory, everyone's hobbies are similar, such as surfing the Internet, shopping, putting on face masks and so on. Oh, she has a hobby, like swimming. But I don't Watching her swim, the nearby gyms are quite expensive."

An hour soon ended, and Yingmei sent Min Hui to the front desk to pay the money and then went to another room. Min Hui approached the proprietress and asked for Chunmiao's last month's salary. The proprietress gave a "sneer" laugh and put her hands on her hips: "What kind of salary do you still need when everyone is dead? Besides, why should I give it to you?"

"First, she didn't die, but just disappeared. The police station appointed me to take care of her belongings. The salary is the legal income of her labor. You must hand it over, and I will give you a receipt. Second, I am looking for her. If I find it, I will hand over the money intact to him, which will be a help to the family to some extent."

"Then it's not too late for you to find your family and ask me again." The proprietress folded her arms and looked at her defiantly.

"It's inconvenient to go back and forth, I want it now."

"Miss, for the sake of the dead employee, we have been cooperating with you all the time," the proprietress sank.

"Then I have to call the police and report the situation where you forced employees to provide illegal services..." Min Hui took out her mobile phone, "Women's Federation, newspapers, and all reports and reports, so as to attract social attention to the greatest extent."

The proprietress opened the drawer angrily, counted out a stack of bills and threw them in front of her: "This is her salary last month, 6,000 yuan, you can take it."

Min Hui wrote a few words on a piece of paper and threw it to her: "This is the receipt."

Say it and walk away.

Probably received an instruction from the proprietress. On the second day, Zhao Yingmei did not let Min Hui enter the dormitory to sort out Chunmiao's belongings. The two met at the gate of Lanjin Pavilion. Zhao Yingmei dragged an old small suitcase from her bicycle: "That's all she has left. It has a lock on it and no one has touched it."

"Thank you." Min Hui reached out to pick it up, Zhao Yingmei shook it hard, then let go and looked at her solemnly, "The lady boss asked me to throw everything inside, so I will leave an empty box for you. Think, why bother, she is too bad."

Min Hui looked at her and smiled slightly: "I will keep it properly."

"Do you think... Chunmiao will come back alive?" Yingmei asked.

Min Hui looked down, "I don't know."

The two sighed at the same time.

"By the way, this pearl hairpin is hers," Yingmei pointed to her hair, "I bought it when we were shopping together. I want to keep it as a souvenir, okay?"

"Can."

"Thank you."

"Goodbye then, take care!" Yingmei said as she was about to turn around when Min Hui suddenly said, "Your hair is so dark, do you often use hair mask?"

"Yeah. How do you know? Do you want to use it? It's a little expensive. I recommended it to Chunmiao, and she was reluctant. It's available in the Taobao store."

"Let's add a WeChat, you can send Lian to me." Min Hui said.

"Okay." Yingmei's answer was a little reluctant, as if she felt it was unnecessary. But she still scanned the code.

Back at the hotel, Min Hui put the box on the bed, opened the lock, and found a stack of clothes neatly placed inside, including suits, sweaters, and silk scarves. The floor has been ironed, probably for interviews, and usually don't want to wear it.

There was a strong camphor smell in the box, and a thick down jacket took up a lot of space. There was a blue canvas pouch in the compartment, from which Min Hui pulled out a white enamel water cup, a thick diary, and a yellowed white T-shirt with a huge semicircle printed on it. .

The enamel water cup is a few years old, and the words "Yongquan Children's Welfare Institute" are printed on it. The word "Xin Qi" is written in red paint in the blank, which can be seen as handwritten. The paper of the diary is very thick and has turned yellow. The first page has the words "Su Tian Diary" written in thick and large strokes. Inside is a line-by-line diary, with different font sizes, like a primary school student's copybook, the beginning date is 1996.

Min Hui calculated in her heart, that year, Chunmiao was seven years old. Who is Su Tian?

She turned a page and was about to look down, when suddenly a folded letter fell out of it. Min Hui unfolded it and saw the words on it:

"Su Tian,

You must go to the swimming competition on the day I leave you, are you not willing to see me off? That's fine, you and I don't have to be too sad.

I was a little nervous about going that far on a plane for the first time. Thinking of our future, I haven't slept for several days.

When I'm not by your side, you have to take good care of yourself and live happily. Today, ten years later, I will definitely come back to you. You have to remember to wait for me at the place where we ate ice cream for the first time, put on the clothes I gave you, and bring the cup I gave you, this is the mark of our meeting.

I will marry you, I will love you, and I will give you the home you want.

If I didn't show up that day, something very serious must have happened, don't be afraid, I may not die, you have to give me another chance.

Three years later, on the same day, you must do it again. If I still haven't arrived by then, then I must be dead. Please forget me and move on with your life.

As for you, you have no reason not to come. You have to come, and you have to crawl.

Before you meet me, you are not allowed to like other boys, including secret crushes. As long as I live to see you, they will definitely be inferior to me.

Wait for me and let me take care of you for the rest of your life. I swear.

Xin Qi XXXX, July 7th